Mai's secret admirer?
by idiosyncraticbug
Summary: Mai discovers that someone has been leaving her flowers, again. However, no notes ever accompanied those flowers. Yet, Mai knew what that person is trying to say and it puzzled her greatly. Could there be someone in SPR who secretly admires Mai? Oneshot.


Disclaimer: Sadly, I do not own Ghost Hunt.

_Italics denote thoughts._

**Bold denote written words e.g. messages, letters, notes, etc.**

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oOo

The whole street was quiet with only a handful of people out. All around him was so quiet that he could make out the soft tap, tap sound of his shoe against the pavement with every step he took. Overhead, thin strips of pale yellow and orange streaked across the sky, signaling the rising of the sun.

Almost leisurely, he strolled towards an office building. Normally, he wasn't one for walking slowly, but as it is, there weren't many people around to see this other side of him. Everyone else in the office thinks that he is an incurable workaholic, what with his arriving at the office at this time of the day and only leaving very late at night. Truth be told, he did this because he didn't particularly enjoy listening to the din on the streets as well as having to weave through the crowds who frequent it during the daytime. He supposed it was the price one pays for having an office right in the middle of town but he was determined to remove himself from it as much as possible even if it means arriving and leaving at ungodly hours.

Fishing a key out of his trouser pocket, he unlocked the door to the SPR office before opening it. Stepping over the threshold, he flicked on the lights, blinking slightly at the sudden brightness of the fluorescent white lights overhead that illuminated every corner of the dark room. Automatically he walked towards a desk on his left.

He stood for a moment at the desk, as if thinking about what he is doing there, before carefully removing something from his coat pocket. Gently, he held it in his hand and took a long look at it. Thankfully, he did not accidentally crush it into an unrecognizable mess on his way here. He may have bought it last night but it still looked lovely and fresh. _Perfect._

Silently, his long fingers laid down a single red, long stemmed tulip on the desk. It was the answer to the question he had overheard her asking of the monk yesterday afternoon. A small smile appeared on his lips before he turned and walked into his office to begin the day's work. In a couple of hours, the girl would turn up at the office and discover yet another flower on her desk. Her reaction to the flowers was absolutely charming, that was the reason why he kept his door open most of the time now.

An image of the younger girl appeared in his mind. He was pretty sure that she would be sporting a blush as brilliant as the color of the tulip itself when she saw the flower lying on her desk. The girl was rather predictable when it came to things like this. Still, he wanted to see her reaction to it. They gave him a clue as to what she thought about the one leaving her the flowers a.k.a him.

He leaned back into his chair and closed his eyes as he thought about the girl. Taniyama Mai, the young brown haired girl, had been working for SPR for close to two years now. Somewhere along the lines, he had fallen for her. He had fallen so hard and so fast that there was no way out by the time he realized it, not that he wanted one.

Initially, he was intrigued by her. There was more to her than meets the eye. Physically, she looked just like any other teenager with her wide eyes and petite frame. But who would've thought that the innocent looking girl possessed powers other people do not? Although her powers were nothing really great compared to Hara-san's, they have their own usefulness. Time and again these abilities of hers have helped unravel many of the cases they had been working on.

Also, more often than not, he found himself observing her very carefully, like how he would watch the monitors for any paranormal activity during their cases. It didn't take long for him to know all her little quirks and idiosyncrasies. For example, she had an annoying habit of chewing on her lower lip with her upper front teeth whenever she was thinking about something and every time she did that in front of him, he felt like kissing her. It was that annoying.

Slowly though, that strange fascination he had for SPR's part-time assistant became a growing attraction towards said assistant. There was just something about her that called out to him and made him think about her all the time. It had been a tad worrying when he discovered that she, or rather her actions, didn't irritate him as much as they used to. In fact, he found them rather … cute, for lack of a better word.

Eventually, the attraction morphed into something else, something much stronger. That intense feeling for the slip of a girl scared and confused him at first. Never before had he felt anything like that for anyone at all. The emotions he had for the girl ran so deep that he couldn't ignore it no matter how hard he tried. In the beginning, he rebelled against those emotions and technically speaking, his own heart too. But he quickly discovered that he was fighting a losing battle when he felt tortured beyond belief the more he tried to fight the feeling he had towards Mai. Always a sensible person, he knew when to give up and when to continue fighting.

Soon enough, he made peace with those feelings of his and began looking out for signs that she was feeling the same way about him. Unfortunately for him, the girl hid her feelings just too well. Either that or she already had a special someone. He didn't want to think about that possibility. Yet, he was determined to let her know and at the same time pry the truth from her without seeming overly nosy. The question that plagued him at that particular moment was how is he going to do that?

-- Flashback --

How is he going to tell Mai that he liked her, very much? Being somewhat on the more reserved side, anything flamboyant was out of the question. He did think of telling it to her directly but that needed a lot of courage and whatever courage he had when dealing with the paranormal seemed to have deserted him as of now. Crossing out the whole tell-it-to-her-face thing off his mental list, he was right back where he started. How is he going to tell Mai?

The gods must have heard his question for later that evening when he was waiting for the elevator in his apartment building, the answer was revealed to him. It came in the form of a piece of paper, torn and dirty, fluttering pathetically in the breeze. Idly, he read the somewhat faded but still legible print on the piece of once pink colored paper.

**Have something to tell her? Don't know how? Too shy? No courage?**

**Say it with flowers!**

**Call –**

The little bit of paper that seemed to be the answer was torn off at what he currently considered the most important part. Apparently someone decided that that they needed the phone number very badly. However, all was not lost. He now knew how to go about confessing his feelings to Mai. Smirking slightly, he entered the lift.

-- End Flashback --

A small grin graced his features as he recalled what he did that night. Intending to gift the girl with flowers when she arrived for work in the morning, his only choice was by ordering them through the Internet seeing as all the florists were long closed by now. His only problem was that he didn't know what Mai's favorite flowers were. However, after some aimless surfing around the Web, he had a change of plans when he discovered that behind every flower, there lay a meaning. There was now a way around her favorite flower problem and at the same time he will be able to let Mai know about his feelings. He slept peacefully that night.

The sound of someone's footsteps in the area outside his office jolted him out of his thoughts. Looking through his door, he noted that it was none other than the other dark-haired male in SPR. As the man was walking towards his own room, he saw the tulip on Mai's desk. The man turned towards him but said nothing and merely nodded, a knowing smile on his lips. He nodded in return with an almost imperceptible smile. His little secret was safe with the man.

Another hour later, the young girl finally arrived in the office. The minute she entered, he pretended to be absorbed in reading a book when he was actually watching her every move.

oOo

Mai's gaze landed upon the flower lying on her desk. She was absolutely sure that the color on her face resembled that of the tulip greatly now. Picking it up, she glanced around the smooth wooden surface. As usual, no note or whatsoever accompanied the flower. But the intention of the person giving her this tulip was very clear to her. Whoever it was, is now declaring his love to her. That knowledge caused her to blush even more.

It was another slow day for SPR and Mai couldn't help but think about the flower that was currently in a vase on her little desk. This tulip is the fifth flower she received from the one Bou-san dubbed the 'mystery guy'.

The first blossom had been a blood red rose. She thought someone had left it on her desk by mistake but at the end of the day, no one came forward to claim it so it went home with her. The next day a sprig of lilac made its appearance. Whoever it was must have looked very hard to find it for most florists do not sell lilacs. Mai knew because she once spent a whole summer working in a flower shop, just like she knew what each flower meant. The rose clearly meant 'I love you' while the lilac had meant 'first love'.

The question in her mind was, are they for her?

Mai's uncertainty about being the intended recipient of the flowers disappeared the next morning when she found a pink carnation on her desk. It was the third flower this week. Surely one couldn't make the same mistake three times in a row right? The monk too, during one of his visits to the SPR office, had assured her that the flowers were indeed for her and not anyone else by saying that no one would be leaving Naru or Lin flowers. The thought of anyone giving the two men a posy was simply ridiculous.

The fourth morning since the rose, she received a bright yellow sunflower. She felt like she was putting together a jigsaw puzzle with every flower that she received. Now, she has a piece which means 'I'll never forget you' in the form of a pink carnation and the sunflower which meant 'loyalty'.

Mai cast another glance at the tulip. There was no mistaking the sender's message. Someone out there was in love with her, Taniyama Mai. Another blush, this one brighter than before, colored her cheeks. Still, she had no idea who the one sending her all those flowers was and it irritated her to no end.

However, she did discover two facts about the mystery guy. They weren't anything brilliant but they were still facts nonetheless. First, the sender works in SPR, which is a no-brainer, and secondly, the sender arrives at the office before her every morning, which is in itself another no-brainer. She also had a nagging suspicion that the reason the sender gave her a different blossom everyday was because he had no idea what her favorite flower is. Nevertheless, that narrowed down the list of possible senders to just two people: Naru and Lin.

She peeked over the stack of papers in her hands at the two men currently talking to one another just outside the Chinese man's office. Actually, Naru was doing all the talking, or rather ordering, while Lin merely nodded in answer. Brown eyes gazed at the black clad form of her employer.

The image she saw only further strengthened her attraction, albeit one-sided, towards the man. With his tall, lean frame, striking good looks and amazing intellect, he certainly is worth being attracted to although his narcissistic tendencies were a big turn off at times. Still, that did nothing to stop her from falling for him. Silently she wished that the mysterious sender of the flowers was none other than him. Naru must have felt her staring at him for he suddenly turned his blue eyes towards her. Hastily, she hid her now flaming face behind the papers, mentally berating herself for being caught red-handed.

oOo

From his seat in his office, he saw her leaving for the day, a red tulip in her hand. He smirked to himself as he recalled her reaction to it this morning. It certainly had been a pleasurable sight. Absently twirling a pen between his fingers, he figured that the girl must have gotten the gist of what he was trying to say by now. She should have, seeing as how she had worked for a short while in a florist's before she joined SPR.

He shut down his computer and stood up, preparing to leave the office too. It was rather unusual for him to leave at this time of the day but there was something else more important that he needed to do. For Mai's sake, he was ready to brave the crowd on the streets below. Grabbing his coat, he left.

oOo

Mai stared up at the ceiling from her place on the bed. It was well past midnight but her eyes refused to shut and let her get some sleep. Her overactive mind kept returning to a certain scene she saw earlier in the evening, a scene she still found it rather hard to believe.

-- Flashback --

After bidding goodbye to both Naru and Lin, she left her workplace for the comforts of her home. As she was running low on fresh fruits, she decided to make a detour and stop at the fruit seller's on they way. The apples, looking particularly rosy and delectable, appealed to her so she had bought a bagful of them. The young girl was about to leave the shop when a figure coming out of the store opposite made her stop short in her tracks.

_It cannot be._

But there was no mistaking the man who had just exited the florist's. You can't possibly mistake someone else for a person who you see almost every day right? However, what surprised her most wasn't the fact that he had just come out of the florist's; it was what he held in his hand. A white rose. Mai's wide brown eyes grew even wider. She blinked thinking that her eyes were playing tricks on her. Dazed, she brought a free hand up to pinch her cheek. It hurt. Apparently, this was not a dream.

-- End Flashback --

She let out a sigh. There were so many questions running around in her mind. Could the mystery guy really be him? Or was the whole 'spotting him at a florist's with a rose thing' a mere coincidence? She had no idea. There was only one way to find out. If only dawn would come soon.

oOo

True enough; a pure white rose was sitting on her desk the following morning. _It really is him, huh? _Mai glanced through the open door of his office. She wasn't surprised to find him hard at work typing away at his laptop. Picking up the rose, she walked towards his office.

The teenage girl stood at the doorway, silently watching the way his long fingers flew across the keyboard. Suddenly, she felt a little out of place, like an intruder, as well as a little unsure of her actions. If he had noticed her entrance, he made no move to acknowledge it. Nervously, she twiddled the rose between her fingers. _Perhaps he really is very busy. Maybe I should come back later? No! Get a grip on yourself, Taniyama Mai! You can do this girl! It is now or never!_

Unconsciously, she clenched the rose in her hand tightly. It was a good thing its thorns had been removed or else she would have fallen victim to more than a few cuts by now.

Taking in a deep breath, she said, "Roses are not my favorite flowers."

That certainly caught his attention. He was now looking directly at her instead of at the LCD screen of his laptop, which was a little unnerving actually. Now she knew why most people didn't like to be at the receiving end of his stare.

Steeling her nerves, she continued, "Neither are lilacs, carnations, sunflowers and tulips."

He felt his heart sink and hit rock bottom by the time she was done. This is it, just when he had found the courage to confess, albeit in a somewhat less than direct way, he got rejected. _Great, just great. _He lowered his head to shield his face from her warm brown gaze. No way was he going to let her see how she was breaking his heart.

"But I love narcissuses. The black ones especially."

_She loves narcissuses? A black narcissus? What – _

He snapped his head up to find the girl grinning at him. Slowly, a smile made its way to his lips as her meaning became clear to him. In less than three strides, he was standing in front of her petite form.

Mai only managed a startled squeak before her body was pulled towards his and a pair of arms wrapped themselves around her.

"I'm all yours, Mai," he whispered into her hair.

She couldn't help but blush when she heard it. The way he said it in that quiet voice of his very nearly turned her into a pile of mush. Wrapping her arms around his waist, she returned his hug, burying her reddening face in his chest.

"Mai."

"Yes, Naru?" she asked, her voice muffled by his shirt.

She felt him put his hands on her shoulders and pushing her gently away. Frowning slightly, she tilted her head. Brown eyes looked up into his deep blue ones, curiosity swirling in them.

"How did you find out it was me?"

A mysterious smile appeared on her lips.

"The flowers told me."

oOo

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A/N: Okay, this is the product of the little detour I took from writing Inuyasha fanfics. Hope you guys like it!


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